Friday, February 9, 2018

Large logs and branches generally do not work well with most
backyard composting. They take years, sometimes decades, to break down and they
fill up a lot of space. But if you find yourself with a bunch of branches or large
logs and want to try something new, I have an idea for you: Hugelkultur.

Hugel-what-tur? Hugelkultur is a method of building a garden
bed using decaying wood. As it decays, the wood supplies nutrients to the soil and
acts as a sponge, soaking up water when available and slowly releasing that
water to your plants. Neato.

This is what you need: wood and other bulky material like
brush and vines, a shovel, and space.

Just dig a one foot deep trench. Place hardwoods,
then softwoods, and then brush into the trench. You can mound even higher with straw, manure, and
more traditional compostables. Cover the whole thing with the soil you removed
to dig the trench.

Hugelkultur originated in Germany and Eastern Europe and means "hill culture" in German. The idea replicates what naturally happens on the forest floor- trees falling, decaying, and building the soil.

Avoid planting on the mound for at least a few months as the
material decomposing on top will steal nitrogen from the surrounding soil at
first and the mound will settle some. Your Hugelkultur mound may take 10 to 20
years for the wood to slowly decompose but that is the idea. This would be a
great addition to a garden with really poor soil or for someone wanting a
raised bed.